Rep. Donald Bratton, R-Hobbs, is trying to invoke the three-hour limit on the debate. The House began debating the issue just after noon. But Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Nambe, said the House had not spent three hours on the item.

That’s because the House began considering Rep. Andy Nunez’s House floor substitute for HB78 just after noon. But House Majority Leader Ken Martinez, D-Grants, rose to offer a different substitute, which Lujan said effectively started its own three-hour clock.

Bratton responded that the House changed the rules Thursday on how to keep time so that going forward every floor amendment or floor substitute starts a new three-hour limit.